Sister Mary Teresa Ruggle, OSF, who served in the Diocese of Davenport, died Jan. 27 at The Alverno in Clinton. She was 80.

Born in Conception, Mo., she moved to Iowa where she graduated from high school.

She joined the congregation of the Sisters of St. Francis at Mount St. Clare Convent in Clinton on Sept. 12, 1947, and received the name Mary Bernarda at her reception June 19, 1948. She later resumed using her baptismal name.

Sr. Ruggle made her first profession Aug. 12, 1950, and her final profession Aug. 12, 1953.

Sr. Ruggle obtained an associate’s degree from Mount St. Clare College in Clinton, a bachelor’s degree from Marycrest College in Davenport, a master’s degree in secondary school administration from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., and a master’s degree in library science from the University of Iowa. She also studied at the University of St. Louis, St. Louis; the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind.; Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.; and Creighton University, Omaha.

Sr. Ruggle held an Iowa Elementary and Secondary Permanent Professional Teaching Certificate, as well as Nebraska Supervisory and Administrative certification.

She spent most of her active ministry as a teacher and librarian. She began her teaching career in primary grades at Sacred Heart School in Clinton from 1950-54. She subsequently taught junior high and high school students in Varina and Victor, Iowa, as well as in Illinois and Nebraska, where she also served as a principal.

Sr. Ruggle later served as librarian at Marycrest College from 1971-76; Mount St. Clare College from 1976-80; and at Mater Dei High School in Clinton from 1980-87. In 1988 she began serving as a librarian in California. She returned to Iowa in 1997. She lived at The Canticle in Clinton and assisted in the congregation’s communication office until retiring in 2004. Sr. Ruggle moved to The Alverno in April 2008.

Services for Sr. Ruggle were Jan. 30 at The Canticle. Burial was at St. Irenaeus Cemetery in Clinton.

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